About El Momma

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Pimiento Cheese Recipe- Southern Style

When I moved back to Texas and got married and started a family and started cooking...a lot more, I started on a quest to learn how to cook new things. This wasn't hard. I didn't have much experience. So, nearly everything was new to me. But, I know how to follow a recipe and with the internet, I can figure out how to do (almost) anything!
Pimiento Cheese is a staple at southern showers, parties, teas, etc. When a local sandwich shop stopped making them for cater orders, I started thinking about learning how to make it myself. Then, Zoe's Kitchen moved in down the street with a fabulous, but a bit pricey pimiento cheese. I did a quick search and found a great recipe on npr.org. It's at the bottom if you follow the link http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6877304

It's basically like this: You'll need a food processor and 6 ingredients: cheese ( I use a cheddar and monterey jack mix) , 2 medium size kosher dill pickles, 3 garlic cloves mashed, kosher salt, (I put a little salt with the garlic and mash them together) 1 jar of pimientos, duke's mayonnaise. This recipe calls for Duke's and I highly recommend it. It really is a better mayonnaise and it makes all the difference!

Put all of the ingredients, except for the duke's mayo, in the food processor and briefly process it.

When it is easy to work with, move it to a bowl and add in 3 tablespoons of Mayo. That's it! This is the easiest time to make sandwiches, because the pimiento cheese will be really easy to spread. But, if you can't do that, place the bowl in the fridge. When you are ready to serve, remove from the fridge at least 1 hour prior to bring to room temperature. It is easier to work with and tastier to eat at room temp.